Improvement in clothes-pounders



G. W. WOOD. Clothes-Founder.

No. 200,116. Patented Feb. 5,1878.

INVENTOR ATTORN EYfi PETERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHXNGTON, D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE WV. WOOD, OF ATHENS, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TOHENRY T. DAVIS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOTHES-POUNDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 200,116, dated February5, 1878; application filed I March 17, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. W001), of Athens, in the county of McMinnand State of Tennessee, have invented a new and valuable Improvement inOlothesPounders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of thesame, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, and to the letters and figures of reference markedthereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a central verticalsection of my clothes- I pounder, and Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof.

This invention relates to clothes-pounders for use in washing fabrics;and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of the parts,as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, A designates my pounder, which consists ofa hollow sheetmetal truncated cone, B, slightly rounded at the top A,and provided with a transverse partition or false top, A some distancebelow the former. A vertical tube, B, passes down through this pounderto the base thereof, and extends some distance above the same, for theattachment of a plunger or handle. Top A is perforated in several placesat a, which perforations are protected by short vertical tubes a,extending beyond the top of the pounder, so as to communicate with theouter air, and partition or false top A is correspondingly provided withperforations a 0 designates valves, corresponding in nu1nber toperforations a and pressed against the same by springs c, that aresecured to the un der side of partition A When pounder A is raised, thepressure of the external air forces said valves open and entersthe spacebelow said pounder, thus neutralizing the pressure of said air upon theexterior surface of said pounder, and thereby obviating all difficultyin raising the same. These valves are preferably faced with rubberpacking c. Partition A and tube B brace said pounder, and aid to keep itin proper shape.

By extending the handle B down to or below the base of the pounder, itslower end will strike the clothes in the operation of pounding them,thus giving greater pounding-surface, and the clothes will be preventedfrom rising in the hollow pounder, open at its base when pressed down,by abutting against the lower end of the handle B.

By the construction of clothes-pounders as above described, the seriesof vertical tubes extending above the vertex of the conical shellcommunicate with the external air above the surface of the water in thetube or vessel in which the pounder is operated, so that in the up wardmovement of the pounder the air opens the valves at the lower ends ofthe tubes to facilitate the raising of the pounder, while the extensionof the tubular handle to the lower edge of the shell prevents theclothes from rising in the interior of the shell, and incidentallyincreases the pounding-surface.

I am aware that clothes-pounders having a horizontal partition, andprovided with sprin gvalves opening on the vertical sides of the shell,are known and used, as are also pounders having a central tube prolongeddownward as far as the lower edge of the shell, and these I do notclaim; but

What I claim is-- A clothes-pounder consisting of the shell B, havinghorizontal partition A valve 0 0, opening through said partition intothe vertical tube a, which extends above the vertex of the conical shellB, and the tubular handle B, extending downward as far as the lower edgeof said shell B, all as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

GEO. W. WOOD.

\Vitnesses J. W. HARRIS, NATHAN KELLY.

